Comments on: MLM’s: Waste of Time, Or Goldmine?

By: Priscilla

Priscilla — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 01:45:57 +0000

Some businesses are not made for logical thinkers, and MLM’s are one of them!

By: BruceG

BruceG — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 02:38:39 +0000

Here are some scholarly sources that show MLMs are a loosing proposition:

Bloch, Brian (1996) “Multilevel marketing: what’s the catch?” Journal of Consumer Marketing 13:4 pp. 18-26.

Cruz, Joan Paola; Camilo Olaya (2008) “A System Dynamics Model for Studying the Structure of Network Marketing Organizations” (this peer reviewed paper confirms the 99% failure rate of MLMs)

By: superdrupermegapuper54321

superdrupermegapuper54321 — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:18:38 +0000

Very useful info. Thanks!…

By: BruceG

BruceG — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 20:04:22 +0000

The old “MLMâ€™s are not for everyone” plus anecdotal evidence catch phases. Been there, done that, and got the freaking T-Shirt. The one thing I don’t understand is why Rod Cook wants to fight the FTC’s revival of the idea to drop the $500 minimum limit and require the Business Opportunity Rule to apply to every form of Business Opportunity.

If MLM are the great new wave they claim then they should be able to probe it and if they have been pulling the wool over people’s eyes all this time then the $500 minimum limit needs to be dropped.

By: sharon

sharon — Thu, 21 May 2009 21:12:00 +0000

@BruceG: You weren’t clear on where those figures came from but I’m assuming you are quoting from the book you mention? I’m sure you realize that just because something is printed in a book it doesn’t make it a fact.

MLM’s are not for everyone, but my personal experience with it was success. Of course success is a relative term: I didn’t make millions, but neither did the company claim that I would. I did make an income though and was in a position to be able to put what I earned into a new business that I was starting on my own.

By: BruceG

BruceG — Thu, 21 May 2009 18:47:17 +0000

I expressly stated where I got my information from and you still asked where it came from–sad really. The smoke and mirrors MLM supporters use to confuse structure with method be laughable if wasn’t so dangerous.

The key difference is limit. The standard business pyramid is limited to how many levels it can support on a given customer threshold. MLMs on the other hand say that every customer is potential employee. But this adds more levels to the whole structure and eventually you get to the point where the next level requires more people then exist on the planet and there is no way for that level to succeed.

Worse you talk to these people about FICA (OASDI and HI), FIT, SIT or 8109 and they look at you like your are speaking Greek. Not knowing what these are and why they are important will really hurt you in a MLM.

By: Best MLM Opportunity

Best MLM Opportunity — Thu, 14 May 2009 13:53:18 +0000

Wow, such a negative connotation on MLM. I’ve personally found success with it and I encourage everyone to consider this regarding pyramids… It’s important for people to realize that just about every business model in life will take the form of a pyramid. This has been going on since the beginning of time. In any case consider the fact that at the bottom level of any company you have your representatives and common laborers. Above them, in fewer numbers, you have supervisors, managers and people who oversee. Then above them, in even fewer numbers you have your executives up to the CEO. This is no different than any kind of “pyramid” that you’ll ever find online except for the fact that you have a better chance at succeeding in mlm than you do at becoming CEO.

By: sharon

sharon — Mon, 11 May 2009 22:36:16 +0000

It’s definitely the minority of people who make a decent income with MLM’s, but I wonder where you got your figures? Specifically “The reality is 99.5% of people LOOSE money with MLMs”. I have many colleagues who earn good money with their MLM companies. As I stated in my article, I also earned a decent profit with an MLM company. I find it hard to believe that I just happened across so many of the other “.5%” that made money with MLM’s.

I truly believe that most people who fail in business, not just MLM’s but in businesses in general, do so because they lack one or more of the essential qualities that are necessary for success: Drive, ambition, organizational skills, a great work ethic, self-motivation and last but not least– common sense.

By: BruceG

BruceG — Mon, 11 May 2009 22:14:48 +0000

MLMs are for the most part a loosing proposition. The biggest problem is they make you look at only as the cash coming in and try to keep you from looking at the cash going out. A friend of my bragged about his $1000/month MLM until the day he couldn’t put gas in his car; turns out that he was spending $1100 to make that $1000 ie loosing $100 a month. He wasn’t making a PROFIT.

“The 10 Big Lies of Multi-Level Marketing” by Robert L. FitzPatrick is a must read as is “Overthrowing the Dreaded Business Failure Rate” by Johan Holmberg.

The reality is 99.5% of people LOOSE money with MLMs; to put that in prospective there is a 90% chance that a traditional business will close its doors in 5 years and THAT number includes businesses that close with PROFITS. I would say 0.5% vs a minimum of 10% shows that MLMs are fools gold.

By: Bruce

Bruce — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 16:41:51 +0000

I agree with you. And, I have had success with MLM’s/Network Marketing companies. I am now involved in one that is amazing. It has me distributing a free software download that helps people save money on what they have to buy anyway. I don’t sell anything and the person I give the software doesn’t buy anything from me. I don’t even ask them for an email address or a credit card. Everybody wins in the proposition. So, one of the keys to success is to find something you really believe in. If the product ads value to the person’s life you wont have any problem making money.